iSnake AKA Snake Charmer
by Christie Redfield
Summary: Snake misplaces his iPod before eventually recovering it. The only problem now is that Snake doesn’t think that it’s his iPod he has, so the question remains is, whose is it? Read to find out.


Disclaimer: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is © Kojima Productions, Konami, and Hideo Kojima the game's creator. No copyright infringement is intended by this work nor is any profit being made from this work.

Claimer: The only thing I own is this story, nothing else.

Spoilers: MGS4, Act 1.

Feedback: Love it, live for it, cherish it.

Category: Humor

Rating: K+ for mild language.

Time Setting: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, ACT 1.

Author's Note: -- Ever since I found out there is an in game iPod that Snake can use the idea for this fic sprang to mind and I just couldn't resist writing it. Though what Snake really listens to is up for debate IMO I hope you will enjoy this fic irregardless. :) Enjoy. ;)

Summary: Snake misplaces his iPod before eventually recovering it. The only problem now is that Snake doesn't think that it's his iPod he has, so the question remains is, whose is it? Read to find out. :)

iSnake (Snake Charmer)

By: Christie Redfield

"Aren't you going to follow them Snake?" A tinny voice asked from the ground as Snake watched Meryl and the Rat Patrol 01 Team march off. The old soldier cast a backwards glance over his shoulder at the small robot that trailed at his feet. "No, I'd only impede their progress." He rasped in reply. Carefully making his way through the crumbling building Snake paused to climb through the narrow archway, stepping gingerly as he did.

"Sure you don't want to take five?" Otacon asked as he watched his friend. Snake harrumphed. "Why does everyone keep treating me like some damned lame dog, I'm fine." Snake grunted as his back let out a sharp protest of pain arcing up his spine.

Gritting his teeth Snake reached back and rapped his fist against his back trying to work the kink out. It only seemed to further aggravate the pain. The damned fight with the FROGS must have done a number on him. Sighing he glanced over at the MKII which had rolled over to Snake's side.

"HEEY! You alright?! Maybe you should rest." Mumbling incoherently, the old soldier crawled through the tiny space carefully as the MKII pulled itself up on the ledge. Sighing Snake grabbed the small robot and lowered it to the ground. "Fine, let's take five…" Cursing Snake rapped his back again. "Actually, make it twenty, no more no less."

Otacon gave an audible sigh of relief and watched as Snake very carefully stood up and looked around for a place to hide, a few paces further away Snake spied an old building that was boarded quickly and rather inefficiently. From what he could tell it looked like an old convenience store, long since abandoned during the war. One of the doors was partially boarded up, leaving a space just small enough for a man to climb through.

Switching the Solid Eye to Night Vision, Snake carefully scanned the building finding no movement emanating from nearby.

"Otacon?" The little robot zoomed forwards and entered the building through the small space, albeit somewhat clumsily using its tentacle like arms. P90 at the ready, Snake cautiously approached the building and looked around from the outside through the cracks in the boards. "Anything?"

"All clear Snake!" Otacon called out. Taking a final look around Snake ducked inside the building just barely squeezing through the cramped space. Switching the Solid Eye off, Snake found that the building was dimly illuminated through the sunlight that managed to creep its way inside the cracks in the boards blocking the windows and doors.

There was a set of stairs nearby that looked ready to crumble at any moment, upon closer inspection Snake could see that the upper stairwell was already on the verge of caving in on itself and that the only thing that keep them from tumbling completely was a mountain of wooden crates stacked below it.

Nearby several crumpled cardboard boxes accompanied the crates. A small room stood off to Snake's left housing shelves full of canned goods and food. What little food remained that was not in cans had been picked clean by a family of rats that had torn into the burlap sacks of what appeared to be or had been rice.

"It'll do, you watch the door." Snake remarked setting down his P90 on the ground next to the wall as the MKII rolled towards the doorway and turned towards Snake's direction. "No problem Snake." The small robot faded from sight as Otacon activated the Stealth Camouflage.

A hollowed voice called out from behind him causing the little robot to turn around. "Twenty minutes no more no less." Craning up on its small legs Otacon searched for his friend. "Got it. Where are you anyway?"

"Don't worry about me, just you play guard dog." Otacon fought back a smile as he watched a boxlike shape move about slightly near the mountain of crates. To Solid Snake, the cardboard box was like a form of Zen.

"Roger Snake." Turning around, Otacon reactivated the Stealth Camouflage. A series of soft clicks could be heard from Snake's direction. Otacon shook his head and smiled. He never thought he'd see the day his friend would use an MP3 Player. Snake was an accomplished soldier but he was anything but tech savvy when it came to technology, especially computers.

The iPod was a random gift that Otacon thought Snake might enjoy though at first he couldn't find any real use for the device and stated he'd probably barely use the damned thing saying that it would be more of a distraction than anything else. Especially on the battlefield. A few days later Otacon found the device perched on his desk with a sticky note pasted to the screen that simply read: TOAST. Snake was hardly ever without it from that point on. Otacon still wasn't sure if Snake was annoyed or amused when he accidentally put some of his J-Pop tunes onto Snake's iPod by mistake.

"Huh? Hmm…"

The small robot cast a glance back towards Snake's position confused by his remarks of apparent befuddlement. Knowing that Snake would much rather figure out the problem for himself, the MKII swiveled around and resumed watch of the area. Within moments a raspy voice pierced the silence.

"Otacon…"

"Yeah Snake?"

"I think something's wrong with my iPod."

The MKII decloaked and rolled over to the box Snake sat hidden in. "You're worried that your iPod might be broken at a time like this?" Grumbling loudly Snake held out the portable music device through the box's only opening. "Just check the damned thing okay?"

"Fine geez! No need to get all uppity about it." Reaching out with a tentacled appendage the MKII took the device from Snake's hand and placed it inside the MKII's internal compartment.

"Hey! I thought you were going to check it!"

Otacon sighed. "I am checking it; the MKII has a built-in universal USB port inside its internal compartment which I can use to sync up the iPod or any other portable device with the Nomad's CPU." Sensing Snake was confused, the Otaku quickly added, "I figured it might come in handy."

"I can't find anything wrong with the iPod, are you sure it's broken?"

Clearly annoyed, Snake sighed audibly before he removed his box. "Yeah, I don't recognize half the music on there for one."

"Didn't you get some music from the other soldiers?"

"Yeah…but I'm not seeing any of those songs on there either."

"Tell me if any of these sound familiar to you." A series of whirls and clicks emanated from the MKII and in moments a soft ballad began to play, more specifically the song was "I Don't Believe You" by Pink.

Snake drummed his fingers on his knee for several moments before looking at the MKII, the song's lyrics apparently appearing to gnaw at his nerves. "How much longer do you need to hear that?" He asked in an exasperated voice. The small robot made what Snake could only assume was a shrug by bowing its head down.

"What? I kinda like it." Snake growled in annoyance making the MKII hobble backwards. "Not a fan of the soft stuff huh Snake?" At the old soldier's glare Otacon hurriedly started up the next song. The next song was slightly heavier and had a rock melody to it. A slight smile crept unto Snake's face yet quickly disappeared as he listened to the lyrics. This time Otacon could see the song was called "Life after Love" by a band named Bonfire.

Several moments passed as the pair listened in silence to the hard rock ballad. Once the chorus had finished and the next verse started up Snake waved at Otacon indicating him to turn off the device. "Turn it off already." The MKII looked back up at Snake.

"Sure you don't want me to play any—"

"Just turn the damned thing off already!!" The MKII leapt upwards before quickly regaining its balance.

"Okay okay!! Here!" Removing the iPod from its internal compartment the MKII handed the device back to Snake. Turning the portable device over in his hands as though expecting to find the answer Snake looked back down at the MKII. "Now do you believe me?" He asked in a gravelly tone.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you mixed up your iPod with someone else's." Snake harrumphed.

"Don't be ridiculous…I'm not…" Stopping in mid-sentence the old soldier stared off into the distance in intense thought for several moments before being drawn out of his lull by Otacon's voice. Casting a brief glance in his friend's direction Snake quickly redirected his attention to the iPod and began fiddling with the wheel as he brought up the main menu.

"What? Did I miss something?" Otacon asked as he watched Snake.

"Sometimes people keep pictures on here, maybe I can find the owner…assuming their picture is on here."

The little robot wheeled around Snake and faced him. "HEY! Isn't that an invasion of privacy! You don't know what kind of pictures you might find on there!"

Snake sighed and his shoulders slumped forward. "Isn't there any other way you can…can find out the owner of this thing…"

"You mean like who it's registered to? All I found was what the device had been named…Rookie Eyes." Snake's head shot up. If Otacon didn't know any better he'd have sworn an exclamation point jumped over his friend's head as he did his eyes wide with shock.

"MERYL!"

"You think it's Meryl's?! How do you even…"

"I just know okay! Dammit…that must mean she has my iPod." Snake grumbled and palmed his face sighing heavily. "I can't believe I ugh…DAMN!"

Otacon watched Snake perplexed. "Oh come on, I'm sure she'll give it back to you…I can track her you know."

Snake looked down at the MKII curiously. "Huh? How?"

"Well…I uh…built a GPS into the iPod."

The old soldier eyed the little robot warily. "Why would you build a GPS into a MP3 Player?"

The MKII made a slight shuffling before looking back up at Snake. "Well it seemed like a good idea at the time, I figured why not?" Shaking his head Snake looked back at Otacon.

"Well can we find her?"

"Assuming she has your iPod then yes, c'mon Snake." The MKII rolled away as Snake pocketed the portable device before he reached for his P90, and the two exited from the way in which they had entered the building originally.

Snake grumbled muttering as he walked, how in the Hell did she even wind up with his iPod to begin with? Then it hit him. The fight with Akiba, he must have dropped it during the encounter, but that still didn't explain how he wound up with Meryl's iPod. Unless she loaned it to Akiba? Snake shook his head, still not sure what to make of the seemingly clumsy and aloof soldier. A ten year vet? Him? Wonders never ceased.

***

Somewhere nearby, the Rat Patrol 01 team had stopped to recon in an abandoned building of their own. Truth be told, Meryl used it as an excuse so Akiba could go change his uniform after the embarrassing incident with the FROGs. She heard of soldiers having weak stomachs and actually vomiting mid battle, but Akiba? Grimacing Meryl held a hand to her face still trying to decide what in God's name had convinced her to assign him to the unit to begin with. Akiba was the equivalent of the annoying younger sibling x12. Worse, she swore he acted it at times.

Jonathan and Ed secured the area while Meryl sat down on an old wooden crate and she sighed reaching towards her back pocket for her MP3 player. Leaning against the stone wall, she switched the device on.

Meryl had no need for ear buds, one of the benefits of future technology was that other devices could be easily hardwired to another; in this case her communications system and iPod to each other. In a way it was a blessing and a curse, the way that everything had become digitalized. Closing her eyes she set the device to shuffle and decided to take advantage of her brief moment of peace.

She rolled her eyes when Godsmack's "I Stand Alone" came on. "Akiba!" She cursed, had he had more music to the device again with asking? Wouldn't be the first time. Why couldn't he get his own?

Hitting the next button, Meryl leaned against the wall and closed her eyes once more. Just as she felt her eyes drifting shut, her eyes opened again at the sound of what could be only described as Surf Rock. Arching an eyebrow Meryl hit the next button again, this time a softer more mellower tune came on and she listened closely for several seconds.

"This is deep even for me," She mumbled checking the artist. "When did I ever listen to Brooke White?" Meryl frowned. She couldn't help but find the song title ironic given the sad lyrics of the song.

"Smile? Really?" Alright this was definitely getting weird now. Meryl looked up as just then Akiba returned, his uniform now crisp and clean, and thankfully not smelling as though he had fallen into a mound of camel manure.

"AKIBA!" Meryl barked and the young soldier jumped at his Commander's tone.

"Wha-what?! What did I do now?!" He asked nervously.

Jonathan and Ed only sighed and rolled their eyes. It wasn't the first time that he had managed to tick Meryl off. Then again, between the pair, they were both fairly convinced their Commander was a natural born spitfire. Meryl Silverburgh could likely tear the hatch off a tank if she was mad enough. Like everyone else she possessed both a good side and a bad side, it was more or less just a matter of making sure one kept on her good side.

Meryl held up her iPod and waved it at Akiba. "Have you been messing around with my iPod. AGAIN?" She asked clearly annoyed.

Akiba gulped, "I only added a couple of songs, I was gonna tell ya…" He started only to quickly be interrupted by the feisty redhead.

"I barely recognize any of the music on here! My ass a couple of songs!" Groaning Meryl held her hand to her forehead feeling a headache coming on.

Her eyes narrowed as the next song "Don't Go Changing Me" by a group called Bonfire started up. Akiba had quickly begun to apologize but Meryl shushed him holding up a hand in a silence motion as she listened to the music. Her brow furrowed as she looked at the iPod and back at Akiba, the song didn't strike her as the type that either she or Akiba would listen to. In fact it almost reminded her of…

"THERE YOU ARE! I almost didn't think we'd meet up with you guys again!" Meryl looked around for the source of the voice and the other soldiers quickly stood to attention reaching for their rifles as the MKII shimmered into view.

"What the?" Meryl remarked dropping the iPod as she reached for her P90.

The tiny robot jumped. "Hey hey!"

"A robot?" She asked studying the small device with veiled curiosity.

A gravelly voice interrupted her from behind. "You can relax; it's only me and Otacon."

Meryl glanced over her shoulder as Snake stepped away from a wall, the OctoCamo shifting from a worn sandstone to its standard pattern. Signaling to her teammates the others lowered their arms, breathing a sigh of relief. Meryl turned to face Snake a hand on her hip.

"You sure know how to make an entrance, what are you doing here anyway?" She asked a slight smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.

Turning off to the side Snake grimaced as though in embarrassment. "I'm not sure how to explain this but…ugh damn. Otacon you tell her!" He finished in an exasperated tone. Frowning Meryl turned towards the little robot whom had picked up her fallen iPod.

"I believe you and Snake accidentally swapped iPods." Otacon remarked as he offered Meryl back her respective iPod, his tone apologetic and equally embarrassed as his friend Snake. She frowned as she looked from the MKII and back again to Snake.

"What? How? Never mind that, how did you even find us?" She questioned as she knelt next to the MKII.

"During the fight with Akiba, I dropped my iPod." Snake remarked.

Meryl glowered at Akiba, "Lemme guess, Akiba dropped my iPod. Figures."

Akiba backed away into the shadows out of Meryl's current direct line of sight. He accidentally stepped back a little further than he had originally planned and into Jonathan's shadow startling the larger soldier. Letting out a yelp Akiba quickly moved away as Jonathan grumbled loudly before glancing over his shoulder and shook his head at his comrade. "Idiot."

Meryl thought long and hard for several seconds. "How did you even find us though?" She asked turning her attention back towards the MKII.

"I took the liberty of installing a GPS into Snake's iPod, which we…I used to track you." Meryl's frown deepened at Otacon's response.

"Why would anyone…" She asked perplexed.

"I just thought it might come in handy okay? Geez." Otacon replied quickly. Meryl shook her head.

"Can I just have my iPod back now?" Snake answered suddenly, feeling all the more annoyed by the minute, eager to get this situation over with.

Meryl stood back up to her full height and held out the portable device to Snake, she pulled back her hand as she studied her friend's face. "How did you even know it was my iPod and not Akiba's?"

Snake couldn't help but smile as he took the iPod from Meryl's hand. "Who else would name their iPod _Rookie Eyes_?"

***

Author's Notes: The songs mentioned throughout the story, are songs I thought that could apply to the characters and their relationships with each other. Some of them are self-explanatory enough I think like the Godsmack song. The Brooke White song "Smile" I think could apply to Snake and Meryl's relationship in MGS4 coming from Snake's POV about how he's essentially accepted his fate and he wants Meryl to move on with her life and stop worrying about him. The two songs by the group Bonfire "Life after Love" & "Don't Go Changing Me" I thought reminded me of Meryl's reaction to Snake abruptly ending their relationship come MGS2, while the latter song made me think of our favorite stubborn soldier. :)

Last but not least the song "I Don't Believe You" by Pink, while I think it's meant to be a breakup song, I couldn't help but listen to the lyrics and be reminded of Snake & Meryl's relationship circa MGS4, coming from Meryl's POV. While it's obvious both of them have moved on towards the end of MGS4, I think it's pretty obvious that Meryl still cared about Snake despite the way he abruptly ended their relationship and I think the song can be interpreted as how Meryl feels about how Snake is suffering from the Advanced Aging and despite rejecting her sympathies throughout the game, she isn't buying that Snake doesn't care about her anymore, be it romantically or otherwise, and he's just reluctant to admit he's glad that anyone still gives a damn about him, Meryl especially. That's my interpretation at least. Anyway either way hope you all enjoyed the fic. :)


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